Rise to Power

Jim Hermle

           

                                                              Hitler’s Rise to Power

There are many interesting points in this book, but one key point in the book that sticks out to me is the rise of power in Germany. At the beginning of the Unification of Germany in 1871, the newly formed nation of Germany originally used a democratic system. But, due to major events that happen throughout Germany’s history the German rise to power changes in a dramatic way.

            World War I is a key moment in Germany’s history. After losing in the World War I, Germany was responsible for damages of the war and lost billions of dollars repaying the Allied Forces. After all the massive destruction that took place in Germany after World War I, it led the country of Germany into a downward spiral. This Democratic system really didn’t work out for the German’s and eventually lead to a massive Depression in Germany. After the fall of democracy, Adolf Hitler had been given the role as chancellor; this was the point where Hitler began to introduce his ideas of a Nazi Party.

-This is Adolf Hitler meeting with President Paul Von Hindenburg. This picture was taken shortly after Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor on January 30, 1933.

In the early 1930s Adolf Hitler began his quick uprising to power and brought to the light his first idea of an elite race. Adolf Hitler as Chancellor, got ride of all civil rights that where protected by the Weimar Constitution. As Hitler began his reign in taking over the country of Germany by uniting all of the political parties under his idea of a Nazi State. Adolf Hitler was a very good public speaker and the way he spoke really influenced a lot of people to join along with his campaign. Adolf Hitler convince many German citizens that is was other ethic groups that caused the massive destruction of Germany in the past and that they should be punished for it. So, many other ethic groups who didn’t fit into the Aryan race were captured and used either as slaves or were brutally murdered. Jewish people were mainly targeted during this rise in an Aryan race, which eventually led to the death of over six million Jewish people.

-This picture show how popular Adolf Hitler was to the German people and how his use of public speaking helped him and his ideas take over the country of Germany.

Adolf Hitler began building his army after his campaign for an Aryan race, which was, by law, illegal after the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler created one of the strongest armies in the world at this time, and showed no signs of slowing down. When Hitler invaded Poland, to spread his ideas of Nazism, it soon leads to the beginning of the Second World War. Eventually Hitler’s ideas of an Aryan race soon came to a halt in May 1945 when Germany was defeated by Russia and the United States.

 

This picture is from on of the concentration camps during World War II, and it shows only a portion of the amount of damage Adolf Hitler created in his campaign. 

In conclusion, I found these chapters to be the most interesting. I have always enjoyed World War II history and am always interested to learn more about it. With Adolf Hitler’s campaign for a supreme race and killing of six million Jewish people is hard to fathom. It was also interesting so see how Hitler came to power and how much he did during his reign. It’s amazing to see how much of World War II is still affecting society today and this is a key point in history for not only American history but also German history as well. 

Sorry about the previous blog, this is the real one....

The Unification of Germany

After reading these last chapter I now realize how difficult it was for Germany to form their own nation. One big part that helped with the formation of Germany was all the battles and territorial changes that happened during the Battle of Vienna and the Seven years war. The formation of Germany reminds me of how the United States of America was formed. Like it says in the book Germany wasn’t formed on the backs of great heroes and military leaders, but formed by poets and philosophers. This is like founding fathers of the United States. As a country we were formed by a great military or an independent hero, but found out statesman and politicians.

                                                           

This is the Prussian Army             These are the Austrian Troops

            During the Seven Weeks War                        During the Seven Years War

Another key role in German history was the Seven Weeks war, which was a German civil war between the German Confederation and the Kingdom of Prussia. This relates a lot to our American History because our country has experienced a civil war as well. But, this war was different, unlike our war, which lead to the unification of a country, the Seven Weeks War lead to the exclusion of Austria from Germany.

This is the new boundary line of Germany after Prussia defeated Austria during the Seven Years War.

The Seven Weeks war also reminds me of the Revolutionary War, which lead to independence of the United States of America from Great Britain. Just like the United States of America, Germany broke away from Austria to get their independence. Austria was seen as the major powerhouse of Germany. So when the Prussian army defeated Austria, it was seen as a big shock too much of Europe. Although the timing of these wars and events don’t quite match up with the timing of the United States of America’s history but the experience these people faced and the development of Germany is very similar to the development of the United States of America. Like America after their independence Germany.

Even after defeating the Austrian army, Germany was still not an independent nation. When France declared war on Prussia in 1870, Prussia was seen as a major underdog to the French armies. But, during battle Prussia’s army was so strong that it led to a French surrendered to the Prussian Army. With the defeat of the French Army it soon lead to the creation of Germany as its own unified nation. This also is like the American Rev. War because after we defeated Great Britain we finally developed a country of our own.

These chapters really explained a lot about how rough it must have been living in Germany during this time. With all of the wars and battles that were happening during this time it was impressive how willing Germany was to overcome these strong powers. As I read these chapters I realize how similar German history is to the United States of America’s history. I feel that because our histories are very similar, that the history of Germany is much easier to grasp. Like the United States of America, Germany was that economically strong during this time, which is just like the United States when they first were coming about. After reading these chapters I now have a different perspective of Germany and much they had to fight for their freedoms, just like the beginning Americans did. This chapter was very eye opening for me and it makes me even more excited to go to Germany for our D-Term trip. 

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Reluctant Revolutionary

Martin Luther: Reluctant Revolutionary

When watching the Reluctant Revolutionary it made me realize how much courage it must have take Martin Luther to nail his thought of the Christian Religion to its front door. This was a time where the people doubted the church, and Martin Luther was one to speak up about it. The church was the most powerful force during this time and for someone to bash the church was insane. One main reason why Martin Luther created the 95 theses is because of the Catholic Church granting indulgences, which was the idea that if you were to pay the Catholic Church a certain amount of money then there would be a place for you in heaven. Another reason why Martin Luther’s actions are very courageous is that, Heresy during this time was seen as a pretty extreme offense, which in some cases leads to death by drowning of burning.  Martin Luther’s goal of the 95 theses was to point out the flaws in the Catholic Church, which the Roman Empire took offense too. This lead to a large uproar between the church and the people of the Roman Empire. Another reason why Luther’s ideas were so popular during this time was due to the printing press. With the printing press Martin Luther was able to spread his ideas quicker. Which leads into the reason of why Luther’s changes in the Catholic religion swayed many German readers. With the use of the printing press Martin Luther translated his ideas into a German bible. This bible united a large group of the German population and was one of the main reasons why he had such an impact on the German society.

 

Martin Luther, Religious Refomer

All in all I believe that Martin Luther is a very courageous man for standing up to such a religious powerhouse. Luther’s situation is a lot like Martin Luther King Jr’s. Situation with equal rights for African Americans, and just like Martin Luther he faced a lot of doubt and animosity. But, with commitment to what he believed in, Martin Luther gave people a different path toward God. I enjoyed this video very much and it gave me a good insight of not only Martin Luther but how German people live.

The 95 theses: the document Martin Luther nailed to the Catholic Church, telling the church what he felt was wrong with the Roman Catholic Church. 

Germany A New History Blog

In the chapter I read it was interesting to find out how the German people came about. One big topic that I would like to talk about is how others saw the German people during the Holy Roman Empire stage. I learned that the word German was a way to describe these barbaric people that were coming across the Rhine in the land called Germania. Also, for a number of years these German people didn’t even know that they were being called German. These people never had very much power and were first used as soldier for the Empire. Also, when Germany started to rise and began forming its own identity, there were many parts of Germany that were far behind in population. For example in the reading it say the largest city in Germany had about 40,000 people while in France the largest city they had was about 100,000 people. Along with population I also found it interesting how much of the German population was effected by wars and plagues. In one part I read it said that the Black Plague wiped out about 2/3 of the German population. With the rapid growth of German people during this time and it would have been interesting to see how much quicker Germany would developed.

This image portrays the Black Plague

Another big topic that played a key role in the development of Germany was religion. One of the more important events that happened with the development in Germany was when the pope and emperor split apart from each other. It reminded me a lot of our time now and how religion and politics are somewhat separate from each other. Another big role religion played in Germany’s development was the Protestant and Lutheran religions. With the creation of these two religions it united people of Germany. But, with this came a lot of controversy, which eventually lead up to the thirty years war, which was fought to restore the catholic unity.

This is an image showing the 30 years war

Another part in the book that really interested me was how much the border of Germany changed over time. With all of the wars that were fought through the European development I found it quite confusing and difficult to keep up with the changes that the land dealt with. I would have understood it a little better if the author decided to put more maps in the book so that it was easier to read and find out how much Germany has actually changed overtime.

My reasons for studying in Germany

1) This trip is going to be the first time I am leaving the country, so I wanted it to be a real special place. . I chose Germany because my last name, Hermle, is German and have been told by members of my family that the Hermle last name is quite popular in Germany. The Hermle’s in Germany are owners of one of the biggest clock making companies in the world. I think that it would be really cool to go to Germany and to see the factory so I can show my family members when I get home. So going on this trip I hope to see what the life style is like in Germany and hopefully meet some people from a different country that have the same last name as I do. My family has always told me about our family in Germany and I think that this is the perfect opportunity to see for myself all the interesting things I have heard my whole life.

2) Another reason that I chose Germany is because I would be enjoying it with my friends. I have made a lot of close friends at NCC and with this group coming along it will make this trip fun and memorable.

When choosing to go on this trip, what really interested me was what the trip was about. I am very interested in WWII history and when I read the title of the class I knew that this would have been something I would have enjoyed. But, I know that when I go on this trip my father, who is a big history person and loves WWII history, would appreciate to see these places through a picture I took rather than a picture from the Internet. When going on this trip I want to learn as much about German culture as I can. I know that this trip means just as much to me as it does to my father so my last reason of going on this trip is to show my dad the land of Germany and hopefully he gets a feel of what it was like to be there. 

I am very excited for this trip, I asked for this trip from my parents as a 21^st birthday present and I think it would be an awesome time to spend it in Germany with everyone going.

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Trying out the Blog, can't wait only 6 months and 19 days